Summer Achievements

So one of the greatest things to happen all summer is for Brooklyn to be able to sit next to Levi without causing him harm and what's more, he is actually smiling instead of looking worried and trying to roll away. Also, Levi has learned to read (upside down)!!!!!

(Ok, just kidding. Maybe by next summer.)

No, the real achievement is sitting up all by himself! I know, it was bound to happen sooner or later. You would think by the fourth child I wouldn't even bat an eye at these little things, but the little guy just seems to be growing up much faster than the others.

And for his next trick Levi will be attempting ..."the crawl!" We know it can be dangerous. His first tries have had him landing on his head and balancing on his tippy toes, but we feel confident that Levi will overcome all the obstacles his siblings place in front of him to achieve the ultimate feats of mobility. So stay tuned for more adventures.

Double Birthday

My number 1 and number 3 share a birthday on the same day! They love it so far (mostly because Dakotah isn't old enough yet to realize what a birthday even means). So this is my attempt at a 2 year old photo shoot with her.

Her favorite gift was a baby doll stroller from her cousins. She is almost baby doll size, so she practically fits in it herself.
Jackson got a friend party this year for the first time! We had a house full of boys with legos and new weapons. There were also a couple girls, but they pretty much found their own things to do. One of the best treats was a gift from our neighbor friend, Davey. He brought giant marshmallows that everyone enjoyed. (No they are not naked. It was a water party with sprinklers and water balloons.)

And this is the cake. It had chocolate pudding for frosting which I have to admit makes the sprinkles dissolve. I learned this year that cakes can be fun to make, but our family doesn't really eat cake. Jackson didn't want any and Dakotah barely touched hers. We ended up throwing most of it away. But it was pretty for a little while.

The kids enjoyed the day. And mom can breathe a sigh that one more July of birthdays, family reuinions, and holidays is now over.

Family Time!!

For the Hayes Family Reunion we all headed up to a cabin up in Idaho. I had to leave Dayne behind for a few days which meant handling 4 little ones on a 3 1/2+ hour car ride, get them all to sleep in the same room at the same time, and try and have a good time in the process. I managed to do all these things, and I didn't lose any kids, just a little sleep and a whole lot of hair. My sister, Lori, is great with little kids. She took care of breakfast with Brooklyn the first morning.

My brother-in-law, Tim, took all the kids out on a few hikes around the countryside. Jackson loved this place so much he said, "Wouldn't it be great if we lived here?!" I think this kid likes the wide open spaces.

This picture was taken to prove to my husband that I actually do fun things once in awhile. It was also taken just before Pablo (that's my horse) tried to jump the stream and almost knocked me off. For my first real horse ride I got just about as much adventure as I wanted.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the dinner bell rang. This is how the kids preferred to eat. They cried and screamed about it being crowded but nobody wanted to move.

This was about an hour and a half before Daddy FINALLY showed up. No sooner did I have them all in bed at my brother's house than my sweet husband walked through the door. I wasn't sure if I should kiss him or strangle him by then. But he's still alive, so you can guess how that one turned out.

After another day of vegging with the family and eating till we burst we came back home for a quick turn around. We unpacked (partially), did laundry, and repacked so we could head out for a reunion with the other side of the family. And if you continue on to the next post, you can read all about that in my next installment.

Camping at the Jesperson Family Reunion

We figured the best way to camp with small children is on a nice green lawn with a kitchen and bathroom no more than 100 feet away. So we camped at the Ashton's in Walsburg at our other side of the family reunion. Its a great spot! They have a pond to fish in, catered meals, a zip line for big kids over the water and another for smaller kids over land, a playground, playhouses, and, best of all, a giant slip and slide! The Godbolds have arrived!!!

Don't ask who is in this picture because I can't tell, but don't they look like they are having fun. I only know they all belong to our side of the family.

Brooklyn loved the slip and slide so much! Everytime she came down she said, "Can we do it again?!" Mommy went with her twice, and I think Daddy went a few more times than that.

Jackson preferred the fishing (can't figure that one out). He caught 10 all by himself. I never really knew where he was out on the water. I only knew he had a life vest on and he would come in for food and water and to report his latest numbers.

Each evening Dayne's cousins Tom and Kim would light off the candy cannon a couple times. The kids would be showered with candy and then run everywhere to pick it all up, and believe me, we found no scraps. This is the kids waiting for the BOOM!

The best part of the camping experience went unphotographed. You can't capture waking up in a frigidly cold tent at 5am to a tiny voice saying, "Daddy?" And you can't capture the giggles and quirms of 4 little ones cuddling in one blanket with us to get warm and the insincere ssshhhing to keep them from waking up the other folks who let their kids play lazer tag right next to our tent really late the night before. You just can't capture in digital form the warm fuzzies that were keeping us from freezing to death in our little tent.

Let Them Eat Cake!!

Yesterday morning our little Brooklyn woke up 4 years old. This is how she looked.

And that look didn't change much over the course of the day. I let her have her way with her clothes and hair. So she decided to wear her dress ups and no pony tails (at least she let me comb her hair one time).

So, since we have 3 birthdays in July, we decided to get everyone a bike this year. I found 2 of them at garage sales, and Brooklyn's came from Wal-Mart. But that was not the most exciting part. Brooklyn has been determined for about four months to have a Barbie Birthday Cake just like her cousin Katie's. So, as much as I have tried to avoid the whole cake decorating thing, I finally had to relent for her sake.

And as it turned out, it wasn't as horrible as I thought it would be. I watched a couple web videos and had my awesome neice-in-law, Lisa, come over and walk me through it. This is Brooklyn eating the scraps of her cake for breakfast. (Hey, it was her birthday!)

And...voila!!! This is the finished product! I know, it is a bit pink, but I think it didn't turn out half bad. Of course, this is the picture taken just after it was finished and just before Dakotah decided it looked good enough to play with. I think Barbie got a whole 5 minutes of glory before she was smudged and slumping over in her dress. It didn't seem to bother Brooklyn. She thought it was beautiful! And that's all that matters to me.

One down, and two more to go. However, now Jackson is talking about cakes. I may have gotten myself in over my head, but I'm sure my kids will be right there waiting to eat my way out of it.